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The idea that populations always need to grow is so American. Or really religious in general, many religious groups in Europe also proclaim this. It's important

The idea that populations always need to grow is so American. Or really religious in general, many religious groups in Europe also proclaim this. It's important to realise that this is the method of survival of religions, this is why it's so ingrained in their dogma. The organism of religion depends on it. However it's totally unsustainable. Sure, countries like Japan will have a tough time as the bulk of the ageing population matures but after that they will be in a better position for a stable occupancy. Less pressure on resources and housing, more ecological sustainability. Our planet really doesn't benefit from having many billions of us around. And many of the problems we see, like climate change and pollution, are a direct result of that.

ANewFormation 2y ago
Fertility changes are exponential. They can be approximated (assuming a population with a common fertility rate among generations) as having a fertility_rate/2 scalar impact on population per 20 years. So imagine a fertility rate of 1. The scalar would be 1/2 so the population would declining by about 50% every 20 years. And this doesn't stop until you go extinct or start having more children. And you'd have to start having more children in the midst of economic collapse. So think about a period of just 80 years, a single human lifetime - that would be a decline of 1-(1/2)^4 = 15/16ths of your previous population. The US would go from 345 million to 22million, about the size of Sri Lanka or Chile. And you're right religious groups do retain healthy fertility rates, so we're bee-lining to a world where secular educated individuals are simply removing themselves from the gene pool, while highly religious, less educated individuals are thriving. Guess what the world would thus look like in the future and how concerned it might be with your issues of choice, like climate change. Children are essentially your voice in the future - have no children, have no voice.
seabass-labrax 2y ago
Which religious groups in Europe proclaim that populations always need to grow? I am not qualified to speak about America, but the claim does not ring true to me as a European. Even if they are promoting population growth, they must be doing a bad job of it. An article from 2015[1] shows that religious groups are shrinking quickly in Europe, and that their fertility rate is only slightly higher than that of the group of 'unaffiliated' individuals. The population growth in total is also slowing, if not actually on a downward trend[2]. [1]: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/europe/ https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/europe/ [2]: https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/demographics-of-europe/ https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/demographics-of-e...

ANewFormation 2y ago

Fertility changes are exponential. They can be approximated (assuming a population with a common fertility rate among generations) as having a fertility_rate/2 scalar impact on population per 20 years. So imagine a fertility rate of 1. The scalar would be 1/2 so the population would declining by about 50% every 20 years. And this doesn't stop until you go extinct or start having more children. And you'd have to start having more children in the midst of economic collapse. So think about a period of just 80 years, a single human lifetime - that would be a decline of 1-(1/2)^4 = 15/16ths of your previous population. The US would go from 345 million to 22million, about the size of Sri Lanka or Chile. And you're right religious groups do retain healthy fertility rates, so we're bee-lining to a world where secular educated individuals are simply removing themselves from the gene pool, while highly religious, less educated individuals are thriving. Guess what the world would thus look like in the future and how concerned it might be with your issues of choice, like climate change. Children are essentially your voice in the future - have no children, have no voice.

seabass-labrax 2y ago

Which religious groups in Europe proclaim that populations always need to grow? I am not qualified to speak about America, but the claim does not ring true to me as a European. Even if they are promoting population growth, they must be doing a bad job of it. An article from 2015[1] shows that religious groups are shrinking quickly in Europe, and that their fertility rate is only slightly higher than that of the group of 'unaffiliated' individuals. The population growth in total is also slowing, if not actually on a downward trend[2]. [1]: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/europe/ https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/europe/ [2]: https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/demographics-of-europe/ https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/demographics-of-e...